"Are you quite sure about this, Fiora?" Melia asked doubtfully. She held her wooden spoon up - the brown dough coating it smelled sweet but did not look particularly appetizing to her.
"Yep, that's great- you're a natural Melia!" Fiora smiled, enthusiastically stirring her own mixture.
Dunban's kitchen looked as though a culinary bomb had hit it. A packet of flour had split, leaving a fluffy white dusting over the worktops. Various bowls were piled everywhere and dirty cutlery was dotted about in random locations.
The mess didn't bother Fiora in the slightest and she merely laughed when Melia suggested trying to be a bit neater.
"It's fine, just relax. We can clean up later!"
Melia couldn't help but worry. Her father had always scolded her for making the slightest bit of mess. She would never forget the look of utter fury on his face the one time she'd tracked mud in from the garden. It had scared the living daylights out of her and from then on she was tidy as could be.
"O.K, now we have to spoon the mixture onto the greased baking tray," Fiora said. "You might want to take your gloves off for this bit."
Fiora showed her how to scoop up a huge ball of dough with a teaspoon and then scrape the dough off the spoon and onto the tray using her little finger. Melia did her best to copy, wincing at the feel of the sticky dough on her bare hands.
Eventually all the dough was on the tray in neat piles. Fiora shoved the tray into the oven, slamming the door. She then set her timer- a ragtag device Shulk had put together for her.
"There! See, it's easy! I can't believe you've never had cookies before, Melia."
"Will Dunban not be cross about the kitchen?" she asked, still worried.
"Of course not! Dunban loves cookies," Fiora grinned.
Melia nodded. She started gathering up the abandoned spoons, knives and forks and dumping them in the sink, ready to be washed. She couldn't help feeling utterly and completely out of place, despite Fiora trying to put her at ease. She was a High Entia princess in a Homs kitchen- the whole situation was simply ridiculous.
"Hey, Melia. Maybe you could teach me some High Entia recipes?" Fiora asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"You would have to ask Talonyth. I never really cooked for myself," Melia said.
"What kind of things did you eat though?" Fiora pressed.
"Fish. Noodles. Cheesecake..." Melia smiled. "Brother's favourite food was dolphin carrots, but Father couldn't stand them. He preferred tropical radishes. They only ever argued about food..."
She paused. There were wet trails on her cheeks. And then Fiora was hugging her.
"Sorry, Melia. I was supposed to be cheering you up," she said sadly.
"I am cheered up," Melia insisted wiping her eyes. "I am sure cookies will be...yummy..."
The timer went off.
Fiora moved back to the oven and removed the trays. The cookies were golden brown.
"We should leave them to cool for a few minutes," said Fiora.
Melia nodded. "Are the others coming soon?" she asked.
"Yep, they'll be here in a few minutes. I hope they know how lucky they are, having two master chefs cooking for them."
"I sincerely hope I don't poison them," Melia said, only half joking.
"I don't think you can get poisoning from cookies," Fiora laughed. "Here, try one!"
Melia took a cookie. She eyed it warily. It did smell good, but so did sea berries. She bit into it, mentally preparing her speech on how delicious it tasted.
"Good?" Fiora said, laughing at her astonished expression.
"Yes. Very good," Melia was so shocked her speech had flown right out of her head.
She finished the rest of the cookie and then smiled up at Fiora. Fiora had tried so hard to do something nice for her. Maybe she was wanted after all.
"Thank you for everything, Fiora."
"There's no need to thank me. We're friends. Here, have another."
A/N I enjoyed writing this one :) I hope you enjoyed reading it! :)
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Xenoblade, don't sue etc.